the familiar home
of fifty years
is more than halfway
to seeming
a stranger

his first beer
after a week of hospitalization
taken from his personally
refrigerated stock
is
almost
too cold to bear
but he mans up
and gulps it down

there is little pleasure
much grimness
in this visit
and the stress of breathing
drives him
to return to the hospital
in the hope
of easier air

she
is trying to close
a recalcitrant car door
while standing committedly
within its arc

eventually
moving her wheelie-walker
out of the way
and stooping profoundly
she steers
to a confrontation
with a stubborn step
that will neither
remove itself
nor take action to minimize
it’s own height